


Masterpiece

by natsucchi29



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, art club au, character death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 02:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6354496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsucchi29/pseuds/natsucchi29
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>- this was an unfinished work, as I went on a definite hiatus and I simply couldn't continue this story, but upon rereading it a few times, it just seemed open-ended (the last part could just be their amusement park date)<br/>- the publication date here is the date I decided to leave it as it is<br/>- I started writing this when everyone was still using "Rivaille" and before "Levi" was considered the official spelling and romanization, so I just carried it through</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> \- this was an unfinished work, as I went on a definite hiatus and I simply couldn't continue this story, but upon rereading it a few times, it just seemed open-ended (the last part could just be their amusement park date)  
> \- the publication date here is the date I decided to leave it as it is  
> \- I started writing this when everyone was still using "Rivaille" and before "Levi" was considered the official spelling and romanization, so I just carried it through

I had been summoned by the adviser of my school’s art club to his office during lunch time.

“Rivaille,” Mr. Smith said. “As the president of the art club, I’d like you to welcome Eren Jaeger, as a new member of the club. He just transferred in this week.”

The kid stood up from his seat, and offered his hand to me. “Nice to meet you, I’m Eren.”

A handshake? Too formal…

I shook the kid’s hand so as not to be rude. “Nice to meet you too, I’m Rivaille.”

Mr. Smith gave Eren a pat in the head, and said, “Now you’ve met Rivaille, you can go back to your classroom now. Will you be okay by yourself? I just need to talk to Rivaille a little more so I can’t walk you back.”

“That’s okay,” said Eren, and quickly exited the room.

Mr. Smith waited a few more minutes to make sure that Eren is gone before he began speaking. “I’d like you to keep an eye on Eren at all times. I’ve been told by his parents that he’s naïve and a little strange, so please look after him.”

You don’t need to be told to know that the kid is naïve.

“Why do I need to be that kid’s babysitter? Can’t you assign someone else?”

“I knew you’d say that.” Mr. Smith pulled out his drawer and fished out a folder. “I’d like you to look at this. These are Eren’s pieces.”

He held out the folder to me, and I was left with no choice but to look at them. I didn’t even need to go through all of the pieces to be in awe.

But of course I’m not going to admit it.

“Not bad.” I managed to say. “That kid drew all of these?”

“Yes. His parents gave that to me in persuasion that I’d put their child into the club. They said that their child possessed great talent in visual arts so they’d like him to enjoy it more, but since he has been home-schooled all this time, he doesn’t really know how to socialize with other people, and he’s strange to boot so he gets into quite a trouble.”

A rich kid, huh?

“So? How strange is the little master and you need me to keep watch on him?”

Mr. Smith looked a bit tentative. “He tends to speak without thinking, and it rubs people off the wrong way. Also, I’ve been told that he speaks of the most strangest things ever, like giants eating people, that sort of thing.”

Pfft. That’s it? “How blunt?” I ask.

“He complimented my wig.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Well, that kid’s pretty interesting! “Okay, okay, I’ll look after the kid, Uncle Erwin.”

“Rivaille! It’s Mr. Smith to you!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I said and left.

“Everyone, this is Eren.” Mr. Smith began to introduce Eren during our club activities. “Be nice to him, okay?”

“I’m Eren,” the kid introduced himself with a smile. “I hope I become friends with everyone!”

If I weren’t told that he’s a troublemaker, I’d probably think that he’s just a normal, cheerful kid.

And that’s what the girls in the room are thinking. Pooling over and talking about how Eren is such a cute kid… well, I wonder if they would still see Eren that way after he speaks to them personally.

After another few words to me about watching Eren, Mr. Smith leaves and pushes the responsibility to me as the Art Club President. Half of the reason is because I only forced him to become the adviser for this club, which I had re-established merely half a year ago.

“Okay, everyone,” I said, to begin our agenda for today. “Let’s just continue on what we were doing last week. To those who are finished, move on to sketching with the techniques from last week. We are allowed to go around the school to find things to sketch, so feel free to move around. I’ll be helping Eren to catch up if you need anything.”

Eren looked glad to have me helping him out. “I think I’ll like you. Can we be friends?”

You think so, huh? This kid’s interesting. I guess I’ll just go with the flow for now. “Alright.”

The kid flashed a sincere smile on his face, and looked really happy while I was helping him catch up.

It reminded me of myself…

When I was a freshman, I joined this club because of my love of drawing, and also to get close to Petra-senpai. Before I met her, she was always all alone by herself, and I heard that her parents both work, and that she did not have any siblings or friends. Feeling as if I could understand what she feels, I befriended her. Petra-senpai was my neighbor and childhood friend who loved art, and she would often drag me to exhibits and various art galleries. Her happiness comes from art, making art, and influencing others about art, as what she has done to me. Whenever she draws or paints, she has this gleeful look on her face, and I enjoyed every second of it. Petra-senpai was sickly, so her parents had her home-schooled until she requested to attend a regular high school, Maria High. When Petra-senpai came to this school, she established the art club and many people came to join her. I often remember her telling stories to me about her club and she looked so happy while she spoke. But each one of them left as most people spent more time on other things and became unappreciative of art that the club was reduced to only 3 members – Petra-senpai, Auruo-senpai and I – and the adviser abandoned us, so the school had us close the club for good. She didn’t take it lightly at all. Her smile began to vanish, and her condition got worse that she had to stop attending school. I would come by her house everyday and we would draw things together, just so she could smile again, but she didn’t get any better. She got even worse, and her parents finally took her to the hospital one early morning. I visited her everyday after school and I would draw her beautiful features. She had the kindest eyes, the finest skin, and the reddest lips until the day she passed away.

I was angry with myself for not having told her my feelings. I was a coward who couldn’t take her worries away. I wanted to protect her, but I couldn’t do anything since I was just a child. I got so angry that I had almost thrown away my sketchbooks, but I realized that each stroke of each picture was filled with our memories together, and stopped myself from doing such a stupid thing.

My depression lasted for two weeks after her death. During those two weeks, I skipped school and did nothing but look at the pictures of Petra-senpai that I drew in the last few days of her life. My parents didn’t even notice a thing.

One day, Petra-senpai’s parents came to my house, having heard about my condition and to bide me farewell. They had decided to move back to their countryside home in Okinawa to be able to enjoy their retirement, and as to be able to move on from the despair brought by their daughter’s death. They talked me into moving on without Petra-senpai in my life, and said that she would not want to see me like this. In the midst of my stupidity governing over me, I would always see her sad face in my dreams, wondering what am I doing with my life. Is this what they meant?

They left Petra-senpai’s last sketchbook in my hands and thanked me for being a good friend to their daughter.

Why did they leave this to me? I wondered, until I started flipping the pages of the book.

Drawn on the pages were the last pictures that she had drawn with me. My tears came down as I flipped through, and I finally burst into tears upon seeing the last image. It was a drawing of me when I fell asleep during one of my visits to her at the hospital. It looked like it took her a lot of energy just to draw this.

As I was admiring the picture she drew, I noticed there are scribbles on the bottom left corner of the page in Petra-senpai’s writing.

“Rivaille,

You looked so cute while asleep, and I just had to sketch you! Such a peaceful expression. I did my best, so I hope you like it! Thank you for being a good friend to me!

Love, Petra”

“Petra-senpai, you dork” was all I could say between my tears. Who would have thought that somebody actually thanked me, a short and grumpy introvert, for being a “good friend”?

Somebody tapped me on the shoulder, making me realize that I had been teaching Eren the stuff he had missed. “Rivaille-senpai, is this good enough?” he said, and showed me his work.

I told him to start his sketching today and show it to me when he’s done, which I gave him until tomorrow to do. He’s done? How long was I spacing out? I took the paper from him to get a good, long look at it.

Eren looked rather proud with his piece. He sported a big smile on his face, and said, “I sketched you, senpai!”

“I could see that, brat, but I told you to sketch whatever you like.”

“Yeah, and I chose to sketch you, senpai. Your well-defined features are pretty easy to draw.”

He only took about 30 minutes to draw something like this?

“You’re a weird kid, Eren,” I said, and thrusted his paper to him. “It’s drawn well, but try a better subject next time.”

“Why, senpai?” he asked me with that innocent face. “There’s nothing wrong with me sketching you, is there?”

“No.”

“Then, will you let me draw you again?” he asked earnestly.

Is this the kind of trouble he always manages to get into?

“Is this some kind of joke?” I ask.

“No, senpai. I just want to draw you.”

Draw me? Why?

“Well,” I said, shoving the topic away. “Here’s the list of things you missed. You have until the end of this month to do them, so that you’ll be caught up with the others when Mr. Smith tells us about the big project before summer vacation.”

“Okay,” he replied, and went back to adoring his drawing of me. “I think I drew you well.”

During lunch, Eren went to my class.

“Um, senpai…?” he said.

“What do you need, kid?” I ask.

He looked as though he is uncomfortable.

“I-I was thinking… if y-you’d like to come with me after school? I need to grab some supplies, and I don’t really know where I could buy them.”

“Why are you asking me? Don’t you have any friends?”

“Because you probably know where to get them, senpai.”

“Ah… But—“

His face saddens. “You’re busy today, huh?”

He’s quite pitiful. “Alright,” I sighed. “Be here as soon as the 6th period bell rings.”

He had a big smile on his face. “I’ll see you then!”

The brat is late. It’s been 5 minutes since the 6th period bell rang, and he’s still nowhere to be seen.

“Senpai!!” Eren yells as he approached me.

Finally. How dare he make me wait?

“I’m sorry, senpai. They all wanted me to CLEAN the classroom by myself, but I told them I’m going somewhere with you, so I’ll do them tomorrow.”

“By yourself?”

He looked like he said something he shouldn’t have. “Uh, nothing! Let’s go!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- this was an unfinished work, as I went on a definite hiatus and I simply couldn't continue this story, but upon rereading it a few times, it just seemed open-ended (the last part could just be their amusement park date)  
> \- the publication date here is the date I decided to leave it as it is  
> \- I started writing this when everyone was still using "Rivaille" and before "Levi" was considered the official spelling and romanization, so I just carried it through

Ugh. Going supplies shopping with Eren yesterday was so tiring. He almost bought everything in the store without looking at the price tags. If I wasn’t there, he probably had. Even though he didn’t buy everything, he still bought so much that it required his chauffeur and a bodyguard TWO trips with TWO bags in each hand to carry all the stuff to the trunk.

The kid is RICH enough to buy high-quality supplies and buy many of them. Must be nice to be rich.

I suppose he has started on it.

And he has.

During a dry topic in math class, when I cast a glance at the meadows of the campus grounds, there he is, leaning against a tree, with a pencil and a sketchbook in his hand, drawing all by himself.

From my view, 3 floors up, he certainly did look like he was having fun.

 

I saw him again, gazing out the window all by himself in the 1st year corridor. This kid really seems to enjoy some solitary leisure.

It got to my curiosity, and later that day, I began to ask the other 1st year club members.

“Eren?” Christa, who happened to be Eren’s classmate, said. “He hardly says anything in the class. I think you should ask Armin and Jean, senpai. They tried to talk to him.”

“He says the weirdest things ever. I don’t like him,” Jean said, when I asked about how Eren responded to them when they tried to talk to him.

Armin, being a good-natured kid that he is, defended Eren, but was careful to avoid antagonizing Jean. “I think he just has a really wild imagination.”

“What did he say?” I ask.

Jean seemed ticked off by Armin’s opinion of Eren. He was clearly irritated with the topic. “I don’t know, some sort of thing like giants eating people and people going extinct. He talked a lot about art too.”

“Is that so?”

I turned to look at where Eren is sketching away by himself. He had the table all to himself, and no one seemed to want to sit near him. Since he came in, he hasn’t uttered a word or made any noise that I had almost forgotten about him. I grab my tools and sat on a chair beside him.

“You’ve started, haven’t you?” I asked him. “Let me see your progress, Eren.”

“Senpai,” he said.

He seemed a little down, and my presence seemed to have lifted his mood a bit. He flipped a few pages back in his sketchbook, and when he finally stopped at a page, he showed it to me and said, “I’ve done a few, please tell me which one would be good.”

His sketches are very clean and well defined. To be honest, I like the way he draws – I’ve been aiming for that stroking for so long, but I still can’t perfect it. How can a mere brat have such a wonderful stroking?

“Well,” I began. “Which one do you like the best?”

“None.”

Though I’ve been an artist for 6 years, I never figured out why artists don’t like their own work. Petra-senpai was one of those people who never liked her work, though it was excellent.

“Are you trying to have a theme of some sort?” I ask. This might help him to choose.

“I think the question is, why do I draw weird things.”

That, indeed, is true. His sketches are highly similar to each other, and seems like it’s from the same story. A walled city, groups of giants, and green-cloaked mounted soldiers with wings for an emblem on the back.

“People’s imaginations can go wild while making art, you know?” I said to comfort him a bit.

“But it’s weird, isn’t it?” he said. “I’ve been dreaming of these things ever since I was a kid, and there’s really no one who believe me when I tell them that those might have been from my past life.”

Then he knows people think he’s weird.

“I’ve been in a regular school before when I was a kid,” he went on. “I was in first grade when these dreams started and since I was only a kid, I began telling other kids about it and it made them cry. I remember my parents being called in and telling them that maybe I needed to see a child psychologist, and they took me to one, but nothing really happened. My parents believe that I’m mentally ill, so they had me switch schools many times and the same thing happened over and over again until they resolved in having me home-schooled.”

So that’s why he’s so quiet and isolated. Not knowing what to say, I petted the kid on the head.

 

For the next few days, I’ve sat beside Eren so I can look after his progress… and because of Erwin’s request. Soon after opening up to me, Eren comes to see me a lot, and talk about things related to art. I didn’t hate it, and Eren seems to feel comfortable talking to me. Due to the task Erwin had assigned to me, Eren and I are seen together almost all the time, especially during extracurricular activities. I don’t really care, since it makes my job easier, but recently, I’ve been hearing my name everywhere.

“It seems Rivaille-senpai favours that new kid Eren a lot.”

“Yeah, they always sit together.”

“It’s probably because he’s still new and senpai is just being nice and doing his responsibilities.”

“That Eren is really getting on my nerves!”

“Yeah! He’s monopolizing Rivaille-senpai!”

I wish they would stop.

 

“Hey Rivaille~” Hanji singsong.

Hanji is a friend of mine since elementary. Since her father and my father were business partners, we were forced to get along at first, but eventually, we became good friends.

But I would never admit that I appreciate her presence around.

“What now, Four-eyes?” I sighed.

“It seems you are being talked about these days.”

So she knows. “Your point is?”

“Who is this Eren kid?” she asked. “Can I meet him?”

“Eren? What for?”

“Nothing~” she grinned. “I just want to.”

I have a bad feeling about this.

 

As expected, Hanji came into the clubroom during club activities.

“So it is true!” she exclaimed. “This must be the rumoured Eren!”

“Yes?” cowered Eren.

“AH!” Hanji screams, and hugs Eren tightly. “Nice to meet you, Eren! Is Rivaille being mean to you?”

Eren turned red. “No.”

“Why are you blushing, Eren?

“Hanji,” Rivaille spoke. “He’s not blushing; the kid can’t breathe.”

“Wah!” Hanji exclaims and lets Eren go. “Sorry, I got too excited.”

“Why are you even here?” Rivaille asked. “When you’re not making your clubroom explode or making your club senpai mad at you for the weird experiments you make, you’re here to bother me.”

“So you know?”

“Because those are the only things you do!”

“Ah, you creep me, don’t you, Rivaille?”

“No, I don’t!”

“That’s rather disgusting, right, Eren?” Hanji said, and nudged Eren to agree with her.

“Like I said, I don’t!” I exclaimed. “I hear it all the time from Erwin and it’s annoying!”

“Erwin?” Hanji wondered. “Who’s Erwin?”

Ah, shit. I slipped.

My face distorted as I remember what Erwin said to me about keeping our blood relation a secret.

Eren is staring at me intently. It’s creepy.

“N-No one!” I said. “Anyway, why are you here?”

“I wanted to see what the rumoured Eren looks like!” she said. “So, it’s a boy this time, huh? Well, he’s cute! He’s your type, isn’t he?”

“I’m not gay!” Ugh. Does she really believe in any rumour about me that goes around? What a blockhead.

“So, the rumour isn’t real?”

“It’s a rumour! Of course it’s not real!”

“Oh, is that so?” Her face saddens, but she quickly recovers and decides to interrogate Eren. “Hey, hey, Eren! Do you like Rivaille?”

WHY IS THIS WOMAN TOO WEIRD?

“Yes,” he answered. “Rivaille-senpai is really nice.”

Hanji looked disappointed. “No, no, I mean, romantically.”

The kid turned red all of a sudden, and looked away. “Se-senpai is nice…”

Hanji had the most evil smile on her face. I have a bad feeling about this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- this was an unfinished work, as I went on a definite hiatus and I simply couldn't continue this story, but upon rereading it a few times, it just seemed open-ended (the last part could just be their amusement park date)  
> \- the publication date here is the date I decided to leave it as it is  
> \- I started writing this when everyone was still using "Rivaille" and before "Levi" was considered the official spelling and romanization, so I just carried it through

“You’re too close to Eren, Rivaille,” said Hanji, when she came to bother us again during club activities. “For 3 days I’ve observed, I saw you two together 80% of the time.”

Well, she was right. But I didn’t want it to be pointed out.

“Um, that’s my fault,” Eren spoke. “I’m sorry, senpai. I’ll try to work individually.”

Eren stood up from his seat, and prepared a canvas so he can start painting his mural project. As he was preparing, people’s eyes were staring at him intently, with the word ‘disgust’ written on their expressions.

“See what I mean, Rivaille?” Hanji spoke. “Eren might be getting oppressed because you are being too close to him all the time! I saw him getting interrogated by girls the other day.”

“Maybe those girls just want to talk to him,” I replied.

“Well, it didn’t look like that to me.”

 

“Eren, what’s that on your arm?” I asked, as I looked over while Eren is painting his mural.

On his forearm, there was a blob of what seemed like black paint that hardly came off his skin.

“Nothing. Please don’t worry about it,” Eren responded without looking at me.

 

I saw Eren running through the halls during lunch today. It didn’t seem like he was in a hurry, but rather, it seemed like he was being chased by people, but there weren’t anyone running after him.

He looked a bit disturbed to me.

 

Few more black blotches on Eren’s arm today than yesterday.

“Are those bruises?” I said behind Eren while he was painting, startling him.

“U-Uh, n-no, senpai.”

“Then, what are those?” I ask.

“T-They’re black acrylic paint.”

“Come with me.”

“But I still have to work on my mural…”

I took his other arm, and dragged him away. “I don’t like noisy brats.”

 

“The infirmary?” Eren asked. “What are we going to do here?”

“Excuse us! Sensei, are you here?”

I heard no other sound than the brat’s, so the doctor isn’t around.

“Since the sensei isn’t here, just sit on the bed and be quiet,” I instructed Eren.

“Really, senpai, it’s nothing,” he tried to assure me.

“Hmm…”

I pressed my thumb on one of Eren’s black blotches.

He winced in pain.

I sighed. “Such a bad liar. Hold on, I’ll find you some ice for that.”

Eren drooped his head and murmured, “Thank you, senpai.”

I went on and searched for an icepack. Surely, they have some here, right?

When I came back, Eren still has his head drooped, and he seemed depressed that he didn’t even notice I already came back, until I slapped the icepack onto his bruises.

“Whoa, that’s cold!” he exclaimed.

I started laughing so hard. I expected the reaction, but the face he made was just too funny, I can’t help myself.

“Rivaille-senpai, you can stop laughing now,” he said, sounding ticked off. “It wasn’t that funny.”

I tried to calm down a bit. “Oh, but your face was too funny! Oh my god, your face was like –“ I imitated his expression and burst into laughter again.

Eren looked offended, and said, “Thanks for the icepack, senpai,” as he took it off the spot on his arm, and proceeded to leave.

My body decided to move on its own. I grabbed Eren’s hand and the next thing I know is I’m holding Eren in my arms.

“Se-senpai?” A flustered Eren said.

“Is it true that you’re being bullied because I’m always seen with you?”

He nodded once.

“Are those bruises from them too?”

He nodded, twice this time.

“I’ll tell them off for you, okay?”

Eren released himself from my arms, and stood in front of me. “You shouldn’t do that, senpai. It’ll hurt their feelings.”

After saying that, he proceeded to the door and left the room.

 

When I got back in the Art Club room, everyone was already busy packing up and preparing to go home, since club activities end at 4 pm. I scanned the room for Eren, who has already finished packing his stuff and is now washing the brushes he used earlier. He had the intention of leaving as quickly as possible, as he already has his backpack on while washing the painting materials. I dashed to my table and packed my stuff up as fast as possible so I could catch up to him, but as soon as he dried his brushes and palette, he jammed it in his backpack and ran for the door. I finished packing, ran outside, and he was already gone.

 

DAY 1

 

It’s lunchtime, and I still haven’t seen Eren even once. He usually drops by my classroom around this time, but he’s a no-show today.

However, someone bothersome decides to drop by.

“Hey, Rivaille!” greeted Hanji. “Is Eren absent today?”

I glared at her.

“You mean, you haven’t seen Eren yet?” she asked.

I was surprised. Does she have some kind of mind-reading powers? “Bullseye.”

“Why not? What happened?”

I put my head on my desk. “I made him admit that he was being bullied and offered to make them stop, but he said no, and I guess this is his solution.”

“But, don’t you have to look after him?”

“I do?”

“Well, Smith-sensei told me,” Hanji said. “He’s asked me to look over things, like if you’re actually doing as he said or not.”

Damn old man.

“What are you going to do now, Rivaille?”

This is so annoying. “Shut up. I don’t know.”

Hanji was quiet for a second, and then, said, “I know! Let’s look for him right now! We have more than a half-hour left until lunch time ends anyway!”

I shrugged. “If the kid doesn’t want to see me, then I don’t want to either. Now leave me alone, Four-Eyes.”

“What an uncooperative partner.” She said, and grabbed my arm to drag me away.

I shot an icy glare at her. “Shitty glasses, let go of my arm.”

Hanji froze, and lets my arm go. “Okay, okay. I’ll find him myself.”

“Go on. I don’t care.” I watched her as she turned around and made her way out the door. I know she’s really going to do it, but I don’t even want to get up and find someone who doesn’t want to be found.

 

Lunchtime has ended. Four-Eyes didn’t come back.

I guess Eren didn’t really want to see me.

 

DAY 2

 

Eren didn’t show up for club activities yesterday. Maybe he really was absent?

During lunch, I asked Hanji if her search yesterday was fruitful.

“Hmm, no,” was her reply.

“Why did it sound like you had to think of an answer to tell me?”

After she could answer, a senpai of hers dragged her away to “talk.” Probably going to get yelled at about another experiment that exploded.

She never came back.

 

Today is Saturday. No club activities.

 

DAY 3

 

Sunday.

I decided to spend my whole day working on my art projects… still couldn’t stop thinking about Eren.

Why does that brat decide on things all by himself?

 

DAY 4

 

Having had enough, I stormed to Eren’s classroom, 1-2.

“Excuse me!” I said loudly. “Is Eren Jaeger here today?”

Armin comes up to meet me at the door. “He’s here today, senpai, but he’s not here in the classroom right now.”

“Do you know where he went?”

The blonde kid shook his head. “I saw him leave with his painting tools though.”

Moment of realization dawned on me. I thanked Armin and zoomed off.

 

“So this is where you’ve been… Eren.”

I found Eren painting his mural in the Art Club room all by himself with no lights on, allowing only natural light in.

“Ri-Rivaille-senpai!”

“I’ve had enough of your game of hide-and-seek!”

“B-But, senpai, your fans…”

I snapped. I ran up to him, and grabbed him from the collar. I can’t control my feelings… shit, shit, shit! “You’re really pissing me off! Look at me! I said I don’t give a damn about them! Just… don’t leave me.”

“Senpai?” Eren was rendered speechless as I took my hands off his collar, and embraced him.

“Please don’t avoid me anymore. I don’t care what they say, just don’t leave my side anymore.”

“I don’t understand, senpai…”

“I’M SAYING I LIKE YOU, YOU BRAT!”

I had no other choice. I was afraid to find a disgusted look on his face, but instead, he was smiling so earnestly.

“I’m happy, senpai!” he said. “I thought you really disliked me.”

What is that supposed to mean? Did I get through him?

He finished up his mural, and showed it off to me. “Look, senpai! What do you think?”

He changed the topic. Huh? “I think it looks really good.”

“Really? I think it needs a bit more of something, but I can’t point out what it is right now.”

Isn’t he supposed to give me a reply?

Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

“Ah, you can go ahead, senpai,” Eren told me. “I still have to clean my brushes.”

Was I just rejected by a brat?

 

“Hey, Rivaille~”

“Leave me alone, shitty glasses,” I said, in absolutely no mood to deal with her frivolousness. “I just got rejected by Eren, so beat it.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! NO WAY!! YOU WERE REJECTED BY EREN?”

“I knew it,” I said. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

Hanji calmed down a bit from her hysterical laughing. “So, what really happened?”

I began retelling the events during lunch.

“You found him in the club room, then you snapped and it lead to you accidentally confessing, and he says that he thought you disliked him?” she repeated.

“I just told you, damn four-eyes. No need to rub it in.”

“Maybe you didn’t fully get through him?”

“Huh?” My face retorted from the seemingly stupid question. “I told him I liked him. What more should I say to get through him?”

“Maybe he thought you like him as a friend?”

I’m having a hard time understanding all these things right now. “Why would he think that?”

“Did you tell him about Petra-senpai?”

“I might have mentioned her once.”

“Or is it because you’re both guys?”

…

“I always knew you were an open-minded guy, Rivaille,” Hanji said in an almost whisper and smiled.

 

“Say, do you want to partner up with the pair project, senpai?” Eren asked me.

Erwin presented us the second big project during the course of this year. Even I, the President of the Art Club, had no idea about this. Erwin never lets me know about the big projects beforehand because he said it’s fun to mess with my brain and his payback for forcefully making him the adviser of this club. Damn that old man.

“S-Sure, Eren, no problem,” I replied.

“Then, it’s settled,” he said while smiling at me, and then going back to his work.

Hanji was absolutely correct. It seems Eren thought I told him I like him as a friend, and thus, continuing to act normally around me. I guess that’s because my confession was almost effortless on my part.

 

“What do you want our theme to be about, Eren?” I asked.

“Eren?”

“Yes, senpai? What is it?”

This has been our third attempt to talk about the project for the club. Eren’s mind is obviously somewhere else.

 

“Hey, stupid glasses! Did you do something to Eren?” I asked Hanji, the main source of my suspicions about the way Eren’s been acting lately.

“So mean!” she exclaimed. “Why do you always think that I do bad things?”

“I didn’t say you do bad things,” I declared. “I know you do unnecessary things.”

“Why?” she asked, dodging my question. “Is something wrong with Eren?”

“Well, let’s just say that he’s acting really odd.”

“Hasn’t the kid always been odd?”

“True enough, but that doesn’t answer my question!”

“Maybe he’s thinking about your confession?” she claimed. “There are people who take days until they realize something deep inside themselves.”

 

After that talk with Hanji, I went back in my classroom, and found a piece of paper inside my desk compartment. I looked around a bit to see if the sender is observing the actions I would take upon noticing the paper they had left. They always do that in manga, especially in school settings like this, like a girl sending a love letter to the one she desires. There was no one suspicious-looking around, so I sat down and proceeded reading the contents of the paper.

 

 

“Rivaille-senpai,

If you could come up to the rooftop right now, please do so. I would like to speak to you about the project. I’ll be waiting.

 

– Eren”

 

“So, are you in shape to talk about the project, or you just want to talk to me?” I asked the kid leaning at the railing of the rooftop.

The kid faced towards me. “I’d like to talk to you, senpai,” he replied. “About some things.”

“What things?”

“Your feelings, senpai,” he said. “So is it really true that you like me?”

So I was right about my suspicion with shitty four-eyes! “Did I look like I was joking?”

“No, but—“

“But, what, Eren?” I ask.

“But I was hardly around other people before, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know when people are trying to joke with me, fool with me, or being serious with me. Hanji-senpai convinced me to think about how I feel about you too, but it’s all muddled now! I don’t know how I’m supposed to think about your feelings, when I don’t even know what mine are.”

“Eren—“

“She talked about how it’s good for you that you found another person to love, that you’re finally free from the shackles of the tragedy of Petra-san’s death. It scared me. It scared me that she’s expecting me to do something with your feelings towards me, but I don’t know how to deal with this kind of situation. Maybe you’re expecting something from me too, but I’m afraid I don’t know what to do.”

“Listen, Eren—“

“You’ve been a good person to me, Rivaille-senpai, so I don’t want to do anything to hurt you. I’ve been thinking about it lately, and I still can’t come up with anything! I’m so useless.” He drooped his head, and buried his face in his hands.

He’s insecured. He’s afraid of hurting other people; afraid of doing things wrong that might hurt others. Then, what’s he saying about being unable to think of others’ feelings? I walked closer to him, and wrapped him in my arms. I was really comfortable that I didn’t mind the height difference between us.

“Eren,” I began to speak. “If it bothers you this much, you don’t need to think about me. Don’t think about my feelings, and just keep on catching up the things in life that you’ve missed. That way, you will come to understand yourself – the things you like, dislike, things that bother you – and then, that’s when you can start to understand other people. I will stay by your side as you explore yourself even further.”

I heard a sigh of relief escape from Eren. “Thank you, senpai.”

 

The next day, Eren started to drop by my classroom again during lunch. He seems happier than before, and even though he still receives death glares from the girls, he doesn’t seem to mind them at all.

“Senpai, what do you want our theme for the project to be?” he asked.

“I don’t know really, so I was going to ask you,” I admitted.

“Eh? I don’t know either, to be honest, so I’m asking you!”

“Is that so?”

Eren nodded, and he suddenly became so shy, he ceased to speak. Why is it, I wonder? Oh yeah, this is our first conversation after we exposed our feelings yesterday. It was natural that he’d feel awkward around me. I was also suddenly overcome by shyness that I also couldn’t speak.

“How about love?” Hanji suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Will you stop popping out of nowhere?!” Eren and I both exclaimed at the same time.

“Oh! You spoke in unison!” she pointed out. “How cute~”

I turned red in a jiffy. “SHUT UP, YOU SHITTY GLASSES!”

“Aww, look at you two!” teased Hanji happily. “Blushing at the same time… so adorable!”

Eren looked anxious, as if wanting to get Hanji to stop, but his voice failed him. “H-Hey, Hanji! Stop that! Eren’s getting really embarrassed!” I said.

“Hey, Eren, I have a question… how sweet is Rivaille?”

Though very flustered, Eren strived to answer. “Se-senpai… Senpai is really sweet.”

Hanji screamed in delight. “You guys are so cute, I can’t help it!”

While Hanji is going gaga about Eren and I, Eren whispered to me, “I didn’t know Hanji-senpai can be this scary.”

 

Our big project for art club starts tomorrow. Eren and I are already quite far behind. It’s already been 15 minutes into this phone conversation that Eren initiated to talk about what we would have to do, but we still can’t come to an idea that we both want to do. There is something bothering me about this project, and I can’t shake it off. Maybe Erwin has something awaiting us.

“How about a cityscape, senpai?” Eren asked, trying to brainstorm a few themes and ideas that popped in his head.

“Great idea, but if we’re doing a cityscape, it has to be detailed and very neat. We have 5 days to work on it, but I don’t think we’re gonna make it,” I responded. “I know you’re good with pieces that rely heavily on straight lines, but I need to collaborate my share too.”

“We could go for a nature scenery?”

“I guess we could. You’re good at that.”

“You are too, senpai.”

“Huh?”

“I said, ‘You are too, senpai.’”

“No, I didn’t need you to repeat it.”

“But you are good in art, Rivaille-senpai.”

I chuckled. “I don’t need fake praises, thank you.”

Eren let out a small chuckle too. “That’s funny, senpai, because I wasn’t giving you any.”

“Huh?”

“Senpai, how about this… we both make a sketch – you can have up to 2 themes with it, and we’ll do whichever is better, deal?”

Why is he even making this deal with me? I already know the answer. “Of course we’re gonna go with yours.”

“Oh, but I didn’t say we are going to do the judging.”

Is it me or did I really hear a subtle cheerful tone – that lasted a nanosecond – in his voice? “Then who?” I ask.

All the reply I got was a sound of a smirk.

“What the hell, Eren? Tell me!” I said.

“Is it okay if I said this is due tomorrow at lunch? I’m sorry, I know I didn’t give you much of a time,” replied Eren, dodging my demand.

“Yeah, okay, since we have to start on our piece tomorrow or we won’t make it. WAIT, you dodged my question! Who is—“

“See you, senpai!” Eren said and hung up the phone.

Now, what to do?

 

Lunchtime.

Haven’t seen Eren all day. It’s been 20 minutes since lunchtime began, and he’s still not here.

“Yo, Rivaille!” greeted Hanji. “Where’s Eren today?”

Does this woman like to annoy me? “Would I be alone right now if I knew where he is?”

“Right,” she seemed to have gotten my drift. “Did he say anything about not being here today?”

“No, he said he’d be here.”

“Then, where is he?”

“I already said I don’t know, didn’t I?”

“Then, call him!” demanded Hanji. “You have his number, right?”

“Fine.” Since I’m left with no choice, I might as well try and find out where the brat really is.

And this is what I got: “Hey, it’s Eren! I can’t answer your call right now—“

What the hell? Doesn’t he think that I get worried too? “DON’T GIVE ME THAT “PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP” SHIT!” I snapped and hung up the phone angrily.

“Don’t you think that was recorded?”

“I really and honestly don’t care if it was recorded,” I confessed. I am in no mood to care about things right now. “Actually, I think I would prefer if it was, and he gets to hear it.”

“Don’t be so—“ Hanji began, but interrupted herself. She began smirking with a sinister expression.

I always find that creepy. “W-What do you want?”

“You’re mad because Eren didn’t tell you where he’d be, and now you’re worried sick, am I right?”

RIGHT AT THE MARK??! It only took a second and my face already feels hot. “W-What—I-I mean, no!”

“Stop lying, Rivaille~” she singsonged. “I know you.”

“Shut up, Shitty Glasses!”

“Look at you, blushing and all that!” Hanji teased. “I never thought I’d see this day!”

“ARE YOU GOING TO STOP TALKING OR DO I HAVE TO?”

Suddenly, the school’s PA went on…

Ding-ding-ding. “Would Rivaille from class 2-1 come to the Main Office immediately? Rivaille of class 2-1, please come to the Main Office immediately.”

“Ooh,” said Hanji. “What did you do?”

“I-I don’t know.”

 

I proceeded to the Main Office. What do they need me for? Am I in trouble?

I opened the door of the Office. “Rivaille from Class 2-1 here.”

“Rivaille-senpai!” Eren greeted me at the doorway. “I see you also brought your piece!”

I looked at my hand and there is my piece. The kid is right. I unknowingly brought it with me.

“There’s someone I’d like you to meet!” he said excitedly. “Come on, have a seat!”

“O-Okay.” I followed the brat instructions and sat down. What does he have waiting for me?

“Principal Smith, please come out!” Eren yelled.

With the old man Erwin, there’s my favourite Japanese artist of all time, Natsume-sensei*, smiling at us. I got up from my seat, my eyes sparkling in awe, and my jaw dropping.

“NO WAY!” I exclaimed, and ran up to him to shake his hand. “This is such an honour! I am a fan of yours, sensei!”

Natsume-sensei chuckled, and scratched the back of his head. “Ah, thank you. To be a fan of such a person like me…”

“I love your art! Such graceful lines, and harmonious manner of mixing colours!”

“Please, that’s too much,” Natsume-sensei chuckled. He held out his hand and courteously asked if he could see my art.

“Uhhh…” No! Please don’t, Natsume-sensei!!!!! IT’S AWFUL!!!!!!

Flashing such a gentle smile at me, I gave in, and handed over the piece of paper that had my sketch all over it.

“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” I said.

Natsume-sensei flashed a smile again, and said, “A bit unclean, but you’ve really got my drawing style down. I think this is a wonderful piece! Let’s say… your theme is…”

 

“Are you sure we would go with my piece?” I ask Eren.

“Why not, senpai?” he asked back. “Natsume-sensei said it was wonderful, right?” he grinned.

This bastard, putting a surprise like that.

“So, do you like it? My present?” he asked.

“Present? It’s not my birthday.”

“Does it have to be your birthday?” he laughed. “Well, since today is the last week of classes before summer vacation, I-I won’t be able to see you after this week.”

“Eren…”

“T-That present is for being with someone like me, and I hope you’ll continue to be with me.”

I suddenly pulled him in for a hug. Ahh, this brat is too adorable!

“What are you saying?” I said. “Of course I’ll be with you, you idiot!”  
“Everyone! Please listen! We are to work on our projects until Friday, and on Saturday, since most classes will surely be cancelled and attendance won’t be taken, we are to be here first thing in the morning to set up so we can exhibit our work for other members to see. I expect everyone would be here!”

After I finished my announcement, I heard a groan, followed by a “yes”.

“Good work, Rivaille-kaichou!” Eren said, with the tools in his hands.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said.

“Here’s the last of the tools we need,” he said, and placed them on the table nearby. “Let’s begin drawing your piece now!”

“It’s our piece, Eren.”

 

Finally, the day of the exhibit has come…

Everyone in the room seemed to be in high spirits as they prepared to show off their pieces– well, there are some that are flashing competitive smirks.

Damn that old man! I didn’t think he’d make this whole thing a contest. He just suddenly told us after my announcement on Monday that there will be voting involved and the WINNER will receive a prize.

“Senpai!! Over here!” Eren yelled, waving at me.

“Oh, Eren!” I approached him. “You’re here early.”

“Yeah,” he dusted off his hands and showed me what he has done. “I just finished doing the preparations.”

He used a red velvet cloth over the canvas stand against everyone else’s usual black cloth, and framed the piece with a dark oak wooden frame.

“Y-You really…”

“Mhm, so they will notice ours more than the others!” he said excitedly. “This piece is not just to be ignored! It has to be adorned, so I had it framed!”

I can’t help but smile. “I’m really glad you liked it.”

 

When it was time for the others to circulate around to look at the other people’s works, we were told by Erwin that after everyone has had seen every work, we were to vote anonymously which is the best piece, so we must remember the number of the one we liked the most. Eren and I went around, seeing the fruit of my fellow members’ work. I don’t really care if we win THE PRIZE. All I care about is that Eren likes it.

“Alright! Now that everyone has seen all of the pieces, each of you will write the number of the piece you liked the most on a piece of paper we’ve provided here and drop it in this box. After you have voted, you may go for a break and please do come back as we will let you know who’s the WINNER,” announced Erwin.

 

“Out of the 15 pieces we have exhibited today, the one with the most votes is the piece of Eren and Rivaille!” announced Hanji, who is Erwin’s assistant for today.

“EH?” I was shocked.

Everyone applauded, and Eren dragged me to go to the front.

“Here’s your PRIZE! Ticket for two to the amusement park!”

“AH!” Eren sparkled. “Thank you so much!”

 

For the entire way home, Eren is staring at the tickets in his hand and is very happy about it.

“You seem very excited about that, Eren,” I told him.

“You see, I’ve been wanting to go with you, senpai, but I’m not sure if you like amusement parks. I was afraid to ask you since you don’t look like the type who likes them and you might refuse if I asked you.”

“Now that we won tickets for it, I don’t have an excuse to refuse…”

“Exactly!”

“Hmm… So, it’s a date!” I smirked.

“D-D-D-Date?” he blushed madly.

“Yes, a date!” I said.

“A date…” Eren said while in a daze. “Yes, we shouldn’t waste these tickets!”


End file.
